ANTI-CORRUPTION WORKSHOP IN COSTA RICA
From today, Thursday October 28th, until tomorrow, the OAS’
Department of Legal Cooperation, of the
Secretariat for Legal Affairs, in conjunction with Costa Rica’s Office
of the Attorney General , will hold a Workshop to review the
Draft Action Plan for the
implementation of the recommendations that the Committee of Experts of
the Mechanism for the Follow-up on the Implementation of the
Inter-American Convention against Corruption (MESICIC),
made to Costa Rica during their
First,
Second, and
Third Rounds of Review. The Workshop
will be held in the Hotel Barceló San José Palacio in San José. Costa
Rica’s Attorney General, Ana Lorena Brenes Esquivel, will deliver the
opening remarks for the ceremony.
Gilberth
Calderón Alvadro, Costa Rica’s Director of the Office of Public Ethics,
reflects upon the importance of the Action Plan Program in following up
on the recommendations of the MESICIC for its hemispheric signatories.
He contends that the MESICIC Action Plan is a “valuable tool in
detecting the most vulnerable areas (of our society) that require
immediate action. Furthermore, it has an end goal of implanting concrete
mechanisms to address the fight against corruption at every level.”
He goes on to explain the importance of the MESICIC workshop for Costa
Rica, “The workshop will be a suitable place to analyze the
recommendations that Costa Rica has received on the fight against
corruption. (Costa Rica) will be able to take advantage of the
participation of public officials from the Executive, Legislative, and
Judicial branches in order to hone its approach on anti-corruption
policies and actions.”
While the participants from the public sector are essential for the
success of the workshop, Mr. Calderón believes that members from civil
society are equally important: “The possible attendance of high-level
representatives from private entities and professional colleges will
enrich the workshop experience.”
The workshop participants, who are either policy makers or experts in
their respective anti-corruption fields, will review and strengthen the
Draft Action Plan prepared by National Consultant Alexander Rodríguez.
His comprehensive Draft Action Plan reviews Costa Rica’s compliance with
the recommendations of the MESICIC Committee of Experts, specifically on
the subjects of government hiring, conflict of interest, the training of
public servants, the procurement of goods and services and the use of
public resources, reporting income, assets and liabilities, access to
information, preventing bribery, and the protection of whistleblowers,
among other areas. The document makes recommendations on how the Costa
Rican government and legislative body can strengthen anti-corruption
mechanisms on these topics, and outlines the processes, actors,
timeframe, and costs necessary in implementing a specific
recommendation. With their particular insight, along with their
sector-based experience, the workshop participants will have the chance
to suggest ways in which the implementation of the MESICIC’s
recommendations for Costa Rica can be facilitated.
Importantly, this workshop will reflect an effective synergy among the
Costa Rican Government, national civil society organizations, and the
General Secretariat of the Organization of American States. Indeed, Mr.
Calderón notes, “It is necessary to insist that, on all possible fronts
and on every single level, the fight against corruption is only possible
if we do it with the support of one another.”
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Edition N° 41 - October 2010
The Mechanism For Follow-up on the
Implementation of the Inter-American Convention
against Corruption, known as MESICIC for its
Spanish acronym, is a tool to support the
development of the Inter-American Convention
against Corruption through cooperation between
States Parties.
Read more
here…
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